And so rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell within them.For the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath,because he knoweth that he hath but the longest time.

Game Over!Town Victory!(and Corbo)

Here in Elysian Fields, we have forgotten our ways.We benefit from the toils of our forefathers, but we do not share their struggle. We reap the rewards of those that came before us, and suffer none of the hardships. We had chance after chance to design afuture for our children, and we squandered it again and again. Our lifestyles of excess have brought about a new age of apathy, and we no longer care for anything beyond our own gratification.

But our day of reckoning draws near. Those who gave life to our ancestors now come to cleanse us from their sacred ground. Apostles of heresy. Blights upon civilization. Harlots. Thieves. Sinners.

We must be purged.

OverviewWelcome to Elysian Fields, a SEN mafia game!

Though some titles and names may seem unfamiliar, many of the classic mafia mechanics are still in play. Here are the basics.

Three alignments! Players are either aligned to the town or the ancients. Some players remain unaligned, or neutral, and are loyal only to themselves. Each alignment has different victory conditions.

Varied roles! In addition to their alignments, players are assigned a role that governs their day and night actions. Some roles are more powerful than others. The list of roles can be found below.

Day actions! During the day, players can cast votes to lynch each other, regardless of alignment and role. Players can also call for a day without hangings by casting their vote for 'no lynch'. If there is a tie, the first player to accrue the amount of votes is lynched.

Night actions! Certain roles can perform night actions after the day has concluded. These can range from investigating potential evil-doers to carrying out ritual killings. If you can perform a night action, your role description will say as much.

Clues! The flavor text that accompanies each day and night post may seem insubstantial at first, but most updates will include small tidbits of information that may hint at the identity of an evil-doer. Analyze them thoroughly, and communicate with those you trust. These clues may save your life!

Last wills! Townspeople with night actions keep a log of their actions automatically, and can add speculation and their personal thoughts by PMing the game host. These wills are read aloud should they be killed.

RolesSome roles are only present if there are enough players to support them.

Town-aligned

The TownspeopleVictory condition: lynch the disciples of the ancients; lynch the witch

Mayor-During the day and if revealed, their votes to lynch count for 2 + the number of citizens alive-During the night, can pass legislation to allow some night actions of other key roles-Can only legislate once per night-Must reveal themselves before they can perform any action-Knows the identity of their bodyguard-Immune to silences if revealed

Bodyguard-Protects the mayor with their life, killing the attacker with their final breath-Knows the identity of the mayor

Detective-At night, able to track a townsperson, learning who they visit-If they track a townsperson who does not perform a night action, they instead watch the house, learning if someone visited them-Once the mayor allows, able to invade a townsperson's house to confirm their role

Jailor-At night, able to jail a townsperson, making them immune to all other night actions and preventing any night actions from them-Their prisoner is released at the end of the night-Once the mayor allows, able to execute their prisoner-Once the jailor chooses to execute their prisoner, they can no longer perform any night action and behave as a citizen

Doctor-At night, able to visit a townsperson, protecting them from harm if they are attacked-Once the mayor allows, able to drug a townsperson, preventing them from performing any night action

Citizen-During the day, empowers the mayor's vote if they are revealed-At night, able to cower in fear in the hopes that they aren't brutally slaughtered

Ancients-aligned

The DisciplesVictory condition: outnumber the townAll disciples know the identity of each other

Patriarch-At night, able to order their shaman to kill a townsperson-If no shaman is available, the patriarch carries out the killing themselves-Immune to lethal night actions and jailings

Shaman-At night, conducts killings for the patriarch-If no ritual killing is ordered, the shaman may select a target to silence, making them unable to vote during the following day

Consort-At night, able to distract the attention of a townsperson, canceling their night action

Neutral

Unaligned

WitchVictory condition: see the town lose-Gains access to an increasing roster of night actions the longer they survive-At night, able to ward a townsperson's house, canceling any night actions targeting them-After night 2, able to hex a townsperson, making them clumsy during their night action-After night 3, the role of townspeople affected by the witch's night actions is revealed to her-After night 4, able to control a townsperson, redirecting their night action to any other townsperson-After night 5, able to petrify a townsperson, canceling all night actions and forcing them to remain in their home-After night 6, able to perform two night actions at once-After night 7... that's a surprise

AmnesiacVictory condition: survive-After night 2, able to recall their role by selecting one from the deceased-Inherits all night actions and victory conditions from their selected role-Behaves as a citizen until an alternate role is selected-Cannot select the mayor, the witch, or the patriarch

SurvivorVictory condition: survive-Able to put on a bulletproof vest in order to survive lethal night actions-Bulletproof vest holds 4 charges

As said above: Some roles are only present if there are enough players to support them.

There will be a minimum of 1 mayor, 2 special town roles, 2 citizens, 2 disciples, and 1 neutral, which accounts for 8 players. Since the last game had 12 I balanced around a high and low estimate. There is a chance that not all roles will be used even if we get 14+ players.

I'm not sure how to balance the jailor since they can't use their execute until 2 nights after the mayor reveals himself, because the mayor has to pass the legislation first. The mayor may also choose to prioritize the extra utility of the detective or the doctor for the first night after their reveal (each unlock costs a night action), further prolonging the time before the jailor can access their execution action. I think I'll do what you suggest though, since if jailor doesn't choose to execute, they can continue to jail. There's also the chance of the jailor not being in the game at all.

If anyone is confused on the wording let me know. Some of these mechanics are new-ish and I might not have explained stuff in the best manner. I'll probably carry over voting rules and such from Dem0n's mafia thread when I make the live topic.

A word of advice: Having three factions has never really worked well. The "other" faction always gets eliminated within the first few days and nothing comes of it. Also, it'll probably be tough to get enough players to warrant a third faction. I'd come up with a backup plan to only have the classic Town and Mafia if you can't get enough players to fulfill all three factions.

Memes gather, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the memer on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of memes. I pledge my life and honor to the Meme's Watch, for this meme and all the memes to come.

A word of advice: Having three factions has never really worked well. The "other" faction always gets eliminated within the first few days and nothing comes of it. Also, it'll probably be tough to get enough players to warrant a third faction. I'd come up with a backup plan to only have the classic Town and Mafia if you can't get enough players to fulfill all three factions.

Modern implementations of the game (like Town of Salem) have these types of roles, the most well-known being Jester (victory if voted to be hanged). Small odds are still odds.

A word of advice: Having three factions has never really worked well. The "other" faction always gets eliminated within the first few days and nothing comes of it. Also, it'll probably be tough to get enough players to warrant a third faction. I'd come up with a backup plan to only have the classic Town and Mafia if you can't get enough players to fulfill all three factions.

Modern implementations of the game (like Town of Salem) have these types of roles, the most well-known being Jester (victory if voted to be hanged). Small odds are still odds.

My bad, I think I misread it. I thought the third faction was a team that worked together to beat the other two like the Cult. Didn't realize they're just independent players trying to win for themselves.

Memes gather, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the memer on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of memes. I pledge my life and honor to the Meme's Watch, for this meme and all the memes to come.

We can't explain the universe, just describe it; and we don't know whether our theories are true, we just know they're not wrong. >Harald Lesch

Ah heck, I can't promise to have time for much more than using my powers / voting, but it seems you have put a good bit of thought into it. Hopefully this will get me interested enough to make more time.

In a shoutbox, discussion was had on the topic of clues potentially being too obvious for players with blunt names (such as inferno). Though fueled in part by hyperbole, I wanted to clear this much up: the clues aren't going to serve as an additional investigative role by outing the perpetrator of a night action. I likely won't use much of their namesake if I use it at all. Single slices of their avatar/signature or bits and pieces that reference something they do are the most obvious, and even those would need to be written in such a way that they could be damning, or could be of no significance at all. I don't want players feeling like they can't sign up because they'll be outed the second a clue is dropped. The point of these subtle clues is that people might not even get the clue. Misdirection is important here, while also still delivering something of substance, so I'll probably focus more on the roles themselves first to help players identify which roles have been selected before I drop clues as to who done it.

Unfortunately there's a pretty big issue with mafia games that players have to deal with: the first death. Nobody wants to be the first one to 'lose'. However, if you add in some weird revive or bodyjump mechanic, you run a pretty big risk of nullifying the impact of a killing role's night action, which also doesn't feel good. Making dead people still matter is something that rarely happens in mafia games, and I don't know what a solution to that design challenge would actually be. I'm open to suggestions, though.

My bad, I think I misread it. I thought the third faction was a team that worked together to beat the other two like the Cult. Didn't realize they're just independent players trying to win for themselves.

Yes, neutral/unaligned players serve only themselves, though they may forge alliances with one faction or another as they see fit. I only placed three neutral roles for now but I think there's potential to further differentiate neutral roles by having two categories: neutral evil for roles that want the town/everyone to die, and neutral benign for roles that aren't necessarily at odds with the town. Things like witch and arsonist would be in the evil category while amnesiac and survivor are more suited for the benign one. Maybe in the next mafia I host, I'll procure some more neutral roles, but they won't be too common unless we have sufficient signups anyways.

Added everyone to the list. Thanks for the interest.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 25 2017, 10:45 am by Pr0nogo.